Sunday, July 18, 2010

Eastern Comma

The eastern comma is a pretty common butterfly that we see here in Minnesota, it is the most common of the six different types of comma's that can be found in this area. Comma's are members of the brushfoot family and get their name from the small white mark on the underside of the hind wing. These marks resemble a comma, punctuation mark, or a question mark. The shape of the comma is one of the field marks that help distinguish between the various forms of commas. The eastern comma has a hook on one end of the comma, as seen above, which the others do not have.

Eastern commas can be found through out much of the spring, summer and fall. They typically have two broods on our area, one at the beginning of July and another in September. The brood that hatches in September will over winter in its adult form, Usually hibernating in hollow trees. Because they over winter as adults they are often one of the first butterflies that we see each year. However they can be easy to miss because when perched with their wings folded, as in the first picture, they can blend in very well with dead leaves.